I have a 2 1/2 yr old Red nose mix.
About 8 months ago he got neudered, and gained alot of weight afterwards. He weighed in at 75 pounds before he got neudered.
I cut his food down to one bowl that is given to him in the morning, and left there for him to eat when he wants.
I used to take him out to a park and play fetch with him for like 30-60 min every day. He still stayed chubby with that routine, but now work and school are so much for me I cant take him out everyday anymore so his diet really needs to change.

Right now hes eating Nutro lamb and rice that my mom bought for him.

What kidna food? (I hear Corn is bad for pitts?)
When to give it to him?
How much to give?

I'm not a food expert by any means, but I saw that no one else had replied to this yet, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

It looks like Nutro cups are the standard 8oz. with a feeding recommendation is 4 1/2+ cups per day for his weight.

For your dog's weight, the Wellness feeding guidelines show 4 - 5 cups per day; however, Wellness cups are 4oz. So that would be 18oz. of food per day with Wellness if you stuck with 4 1/2 cups as the amount vs. 36 oz. per day with Nutro. With Wellness there is probably a smaller amount of fillers used, and the nutrients are more densely packed, allowing you to feed the smaller volume.

For the amount, I think 2 times a day would be better than 1. I don't know if the same applies for dogs, but I"m just thinking of with humans when you diet, you want to do multiple small meals to keep the metabolism up.

Just another thought, there is a Wellness Lamb & Rice formula, but maybe taking some of that rice meal out would help with the weight loss. The Super5Mix Chicken or Fish & Sweet Potato might be a better choice.

I'm not a food expert either, but you may consider getting a vet checkup if you haven't had one with your pit in a while. This is because sometimes uncontrollable weight means thyroid or other hormonal problems. That probably isn't the case, but it's good to check.

A good quality food is important as well (fillers are bad). Otherwise I'd follow Kaz's advice by feeding the least amount recommended by the manufacturer.

When I spayed my two females both gained some weight at first. I changed their diet up a little bit (variety is the spice of life) and started working with them on exercise (good for the human as well).

I feed raw meat's and fish twice per week and the rest of the time I feed
Innova Dry.

You may also want to consult a K9 nutritionist. There are quite of few web sites that offer advise and tips for the K9 diet.

Last edited by jmann4 on Mon Mar 29, 2004 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Check out Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. It's made by Diamond. Closest thing to it is Wellness, except where I am at; it is cheaper than Wellness. Try buying a laser pointer. On the days when I can't make it out for a good romp, I point the laser out of my back window and Sammie goes ballistic across the back yard chasing it. I need to tape it because it is hilarious !! He comes in after 15-20 minutes and sleeps for hours. Personally I wouldn't give any supplements unless my vet said so. Quality foods have them already and you don't want to overdo it. From my understanding corn isn't good for any canine as they cannot process it. IMO corn is the reason why Science Diet foods cause dogs to have harder stools, they can't digest it, not because they are digesting more. Also I've heard that Lamb isn't really good for growing puppies because it causes their bones to grow too quickly. Although your dog isn't a puppy it still may be bad for an overweight dog. However in all fairness, I too am no expert on canine nutrition. Hope it helps!!!!!!!!!!!

Sensible Choice too if you can find it. Feed the recommended diet on the bag and if that doesn't work, feed less or more as needed. You can use things like green beans or canned, unspiced pumpkin as healthy fillers so he doesn't feel like he's starving.

My 80lb male eats two cups of Wellness Fish and Potato a day, one in morning and one at night. My two females who are around 45lbs each eat three cups of Wellness Chicken and Rice a day. It just depends on the dog, the exercise, the weather (my dogs eat more in the winter), metabolism, activity....

try choosing a low protein diet(adult dogs of course), give him maintenance dog food and of course it won't work if there is no exercise that you will employ. that is the only solution to your problem. try him on a threadmill, that way his muscle will form and he will burn excess fats on him. but make it gradual.

I have tried a treadmill but my dog is very skiddish around things like that and I havent gotten him to run on it yet. Im also afriad if he falls on it hell never want to go on it again. Thanks for all the suggestions though.